Give peace in these our days, O Lord

Full Text

1. Give peace in these our days, O Lord,
Great dangers are now at hand;
Thine enemies with one accord
Christ’s name in every land
Seek to deface, root out and rase,
Thy true right worship indeed.
Be Thou the stay, O Lord, we Thee pray.
Thou helpest alone in all need.

2. Give us that peace that we do lack,
Through misbelief, and in ill life.
Thy Word to offer Thou dost not slack,
Which we unkindly gainstrive.
With fire and sword, this healthful Word
Some persecute and oppress.
Some with the mouth confess the truth
Without sincere godliness.

3. Give peace and us Thy sprite down send
With grief and repentance true;
Do piece our hearts our lives to amend,
And by faith Christ renew;
That fear and dread, war and bloodshed,
Through Thy sweet mercy and grace,
May from us slide, Thy truth abide,
And shine in every place.

Author: Edmund Grindal

Edmund Grindal, (born 1519?, St. Bees, Cumberland, Eng.-—died July 6, 1583, Croyden, Surrey), English archbishop of Canterbury whose Puritan sympathies brought him into serious conflict with Queen Elizabeth I.
Educated at Magdalene and Christ’s colleges, Cambridge, he became a royal chaplain and prebendary of Westminster in 1551 and, during the reign of Mary I, went to the Continent on diplomatic missions relating to religious affairs. On the accession of Elizabeth I he returned home and the following year was nominated bishop of London, but he hesitated to accept because of his scruples about the “ornaments” rubric in the Elizabethan prayer book, the vestments of the clergy, and the use of wafer bread for Holy Communion. He cons… Go to person page >